Angela Merkel World's Most Powerful Women : FORBES.COM list

Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician and a former research scientist who has been the leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000 and the Chancellor of Germany since 2005

German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues her reign as the most powerful woman on the planet for 10 years running. Why? She clinched a third four-year term of Europe's most vibrant economy in December 2014, making her the longest-serving elected EU head of state. She fought off a national recession during the global economic crisis with stimulus packages and government subsidies for companies that cut hours for workers, and she is in the thick of trying to help Greece revive its economy